YANKEES: Banuelos to undergo Tommy John surgery

A year that saw several of their top prospects either suffer devastating injuries or take major steps back developmentally just got worse for the Yankees.

General manager Brian Cashman confirmed to The Trentonian Tuesday that left-hander Manny Banuelos, arguably the organization’s top pitching prospect, will have Tommy John Surgery on Thursday. The procedure will be performed by Dr. James Andrews.

Banuelos made just six starts this season, the last on May 18, before being shut down with the injury that would eventually necessitate surgery. Until recently the Yankees had tried to avoid surgery through a rehab program. Banuelos progressed to the point of throwing live batting practice at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa late in the season, but never got back in uniform.

Cashman said the decision for surgery was made recently, with consultation between Andrews and Dr. Christopher Ahmad, the team’s orthopedist.

“Obviously (it was) failed rehab,” Cashman explained. “Sometimes you have to drill down, drill down to get to the bottom of things. ... If we knew he’d needed Tommy John in May, he’d have had it in May.”

Given that the typical rehab time for Tommy John surgery is around a year, the next time Banuelos throws a pitch for the Yankees might not come until next winter, meaning he’ll have lost nearly two consecutive full seasons.

Banuelos’ injury only adds to the pile of disappointing campaigns from Yankees prospects. Jose Campos, acquired from Seattle in the Michael Pineda trade, missed most of the season rehabbing from what the team called a bone bruise. Top outfielders Mason Williams and Slade Heathcott each missed significant chunks of the season after having shoulder surgery. Austin Romine, a catcher on the precipice of the of the big leagues, missed most of the year with an inflamed disk in his back. Dan Burawa, a rising reliever slated to begin the season with the Thunder, sat out the year with a combination of a torn oblique and a broken rib.